This is a hate crime. No ifs, ands, or buts. Bacon and a rude message about Muhammad in a Qur’an? Oh, that’s a hate crime for sure. Why, this story says it all: Muslims don’t just eschew eating pork, but bacon is “offensive” to them. Offensive.
But how about writing “death to Israel” on the wall of a synagogue? Oh, that’s only possibly a hate crime. Someone could have written that out of love, you see.
“Clarksville Muslims experience hate crime: Defaced Quran found at center,” by Nate Karlin in the Tennessean, with thanks to all who sent this in:
CLARKSVILLE “” Jerome Heath hadn’t even heard of a hate crime in Clarksville in the seven years he’s lived here.
That changed Friday.
That day, just two hours before the Islamic Center of Clarksville held its 1 p.m. prayer service, called Jummah, a Quran was found vandalized on the front steps.
The front of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, read “Mohammad pedophile.” An expletive was written inside, smeared under two strips of bacon, according to a Clarksville police report. The report labeled the incident a hate crime.
Bacon is offensive to Muslims because they are forbidden from eating pork.
“We were upset. Actually, some of us were outraged, but everyone was upset,” said Heath, a representative of the center.
“We see it a lot on the news in Nashville (be-cause) Nashville has a large Muslim population. But here in Clarksville “” being a lot smaller (and) being very diverse with Fort Campbell “” it was the last we thing we expected.”…
Heath said police told him they would contact the FBI and send out more patrols to monitor the center. Surveillance cameras have since been installed.